Nasus' words made Li Lin pause for a moment.
"Do changes from my upgrades and career advancement really have such a significant impact...?"
"If I were to invest all my skill points, wouldn't the changes be even greater?"
"You seem to become stronger through battles?" Nasus asked with a hint of curiosity in his words.
As a scholar, he had a keen interest in various unusual things.
Li Lin couldn't help but feel nervous, fearing that Nasus might ask about the principles behind his growth.
He couldn't simply say that he leveled up by killing minions and monsters, could he?
Nasus couldn't see through the system, and Li Lin naturally couldn't reveal it, not even to his closest ally, Lady Cassandra.
However, Nasus was somewhat similar to Azir, knowing that this was Li Lin's secret and not intending to dig deeper.
Moreover...
He seemed to regard Li Lin's changes as a special form of training in Ionia.
"I heard that the barrier between the material and spiritual realms in Ionia is weak. I used to think about traveling to the distant Eastern Isles after Azir ascended, but it was a missed opportunity."
Nasus sighed, and in his mind, he saw the image of his brother Renekton once again.
"Actually, it's not too late to go now," Li Lin raised his head and met Nasus' gaze. "The Eye of the Hawk has returned, and matters in Shurima will soon be resolved."
"Let's hope so," Nasus said, gripping the handle of his axe and gazing in the direction of the sun disk in the west. "At the very least, we must deal with Xerath. Only then can the Empire be rebuilt and life return to the desert."
During the brief wait that followed, Li Lin and Nasus continued their conversation, discussing various topics.
However, most of the time, Li Lin did the talking, describing the customs and affairs of Ionia, Piltover, and Zaun.
Nasus would occasionally interject, usually when Li Lin touched upon points of interest to him, about which he was not too familiar.
On the other side, near Rek'Sai's corpse...
Kai'sa's devouring process went much smoother this time compared to the depths of the Valley of Songs.
Perhaps it was because the guardian of the Void rift had increased the limit of her carapace, preventing her body from becoming overwhelmed or experiencing any other accidents.
Furthermore, since Nasus had intentionally preserved Rek'Sai's core brain, Kai'sa's gains were much greater than last time.
Firstly, her exceptional melee ability evolved as Rek'Sai's sharp claws allowed spikes to freely retract from the joints of her limbs and body.
If she injured a target in melee combat, she could also make her carapace absorb some of the target's life force, thus healing her own injuries.
Secondly, the energy consumption of "Void Seeker" missiles and the "Killer Instinct" Void shockwave was reduced, their power increased, and more energy plasma that could detonate on the target's body could be added.
Kai'sa could project crystals that emitted energy from her wrist carapace, their power similarly enhanced, easily melting through hard alloys with a single strike.
Her "Supercharge" of Void energy overload and "Killer Instinct" of rapid dash had also received varying degrees of enhancement.
Moreover, there was a new perception ability she named "Void Sense," which greatly increased her perception after unfolding her carapace helmet.
Rek'Sai's flesh had granted Kai'sa so many new abilities, and naturally, her core was no exception.
She devoured the essence of a wriggling brain core larger than a Skallashi, greatly enhancing the energy storage limit of her carapace and the power of various living weapons.
If Kai'sa could only use "Killer Instinct" eight times in a row before, now she could use it dozens of times without pausing, and she could even launch plasma and energy missiles at the target.
Once Kai'sa excitedly demonstrated her evolved abilities, Li Lin couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.
Fortunately, she hadn't learned Rek'Sai's ability to burrow underground...
Due to the attack by Rek'Sai and Kog'Maw, the camels they rode on had long disappeared without a trace.
They might have fled on their own, or perhaps they remained in place, perishing under the onslaught of battle amidst the yellow sand.
Most of the supplies and sleeping bags that Li Lin and the others had prepared were stored on the camels.
Now, without the camels and unable to find the supplies, their plan to "wait for the prophet" at the Sai Kahleek camp had fallen through.
Fortunately, the supplies stored by Li Lin's Dawnlight were sufficient, so their basic survival was not a problem.
After discussing the next plan, everyone unanimously decided to return to the nearest Sun City for rest.
However, Li Lin had been delayed for too long on this trip.
According to the agreed deadline, Nashramae's tower should have been completed long ago, with only Li Lin providing the technology and supervising the construction of the core device for the Hex Gates.
Malzahar wouldn't be able to resolve it in the short term, but he couldn't keep hiding either.
Contribution of living sacrifices to the Void was necessary, and as long as there were rumors of prophets and the Void Cult from somewhere, he could go and deal with them.
With the Hex Gates, traveling from Piltover to Shurima would be a matter of moments, very convenient indeed.
Plus, with Li Lin's career advancement to the Mechanical Heart, he could also return to Piltover for a little development.
Even if Malzahar had some strange abilities, there was nothing to fear.
Time waits for no one, and it's difficult to endure the desert night without sleeping bags and warmth protection.
Li Lin and his group didn't linger for long, only collecting a few voidling cores as Kai'sa's energy supply before leaving.
...
...
The desert sun remained scorching, but there was a hint of refreshing moisture in the air.
Over the past few days, as they neared Sun City, the surrounding environment had changed dramatically.
Most of the yellow sand they had seen before had disappeared, and grasses that shouldn't have been present in the desert were emerging from the ground, vibrant and full of life.
It was said that with the return of the last emperor of Shurima in the guise of a deity, many nomadic tribes and people living in harsh environments had come to seek refuge with Azir, praying for the protection of the Sun King.
Today's Sun City was no longer as desolate and lifeless as when Li Lin, Kassadin, and Sivir left; at least, there were thousands of settlements gathered around Sun City.
Without the threat of bandits, extreme weather, or the troubles of supplies and water sources.
Everywhere, soldiers of the Sun Disc held long spears, standing firm, guarding the safety of the people.
Almost everyone was grateful to Azir, praising him as the "Father of the Sun" and the "Sun King" of today.
Outside the periphery of Sun City, Sivir gazed dumbfoundedly at the people settling here, "This place... has changed a lot. How long have we been away?"
Back then, when Azir raised the Sun Disc and rebuilt Sun City, she still thought it was a ghost town that could be buried underground by Azir at any time...
Standing between Li Lin and Kassadin, Kai'sa looked up at the sky, "Is this Sun City...?"
Although the living skin on her body was stung by the golden light of the Sun Disc, she couldn't resist her excitement.
Kassadin remained silent, but from his slightly reddened eyes, it was clear he shared Kai'sa's excitement.
At the forefront, Nasus looked up at the huge Sun Disc hanging high in the sky, with a flickering red light in his eyes.
If it weren't for the fact that ascenders would lose some of their ordinary emotional expressions, he would have been in tears long ago.
"It's been so long since the last time I came to Sun City, when Xerath stole the power of the gods, and I sealed him and Renekton together in the Imperial Tomb." Nasus's voice was hoarse as he muttered, "I've been waiting for centuries..."
As Li Lin gazed at the magnificent scene before him, his heart couldn't help but swell with emotion.
The former glory of Shurima was no longer just a thing of the past.
Before they could lament for too long, with a gentle breeze, yellow sand mixed in the wind fell to the ground, quickly piecing together and extending upwards, eventually forming two fully armed soldiers made of sand.
Nasus glanced at the sand soldiers, then squinted, looking up at the location of the golden disc on the Ascension Altar below the sun disk.
"Azir has sensed my return, he is calling us to the Ascension Altar."
(End of Chapter)
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